Eclipse, a light-based performance piece at Basilica Hudson, staged this Friday and Saturday
Basilica Hudson has already established itself with a host of trendy events over the years, including Patti Smith and Sonic Youth concerts, and the Valley’s first major art fair. It’s a solar-powered center for arts and performance located in a 17,000-square-foot former factory on the Hudson River, run under the creative direction of Melissa Auf der Maur and Tony Stone.
This Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26, Basilica Hudson kicks off its 2014 season with a multidisciplinary performance, Eclipse, that was originally workshopped in the space before moving on to New York City’s prestigious Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival. In keeping with Hudson’s emerging new reputation as a home for performative and multi-arts pieces in transmission, digital and multimedia formats, Eclipse features the choreography of award-winner Jonah Bokaer in collaboration with avant-garde artist Anthony McCall.
For the new piece, McCall has created an installation comprised of a slanting grid of 36 hanging bulbs that hover above the stage in staggered dimmings and heights, reflected in the dancers’ movements. The 60-minute work featuring four dancers will be viewable from all sides, with an intended cinematic effect accentuated by a sound design that includes a softly whirring film projector, a landing helicopter and the hushed rumble of a passing train. The work is timed to complete itself at sundown.
The piece was commissioned by the 2012 BAM Next Wave Festival, where it inaugurated the BAM Fisher Theater. In addition to two performances on Friday and Saturday evenings, April 25 and 26, at 7:30 p.m., company members will spend the week prior in residence at Basilica Hudson offering educational workshops for both adults and children.
Eclipse, Friday/Saturday, April 25/26, 7:30 p.m., $20, Basilica Hudson, 110 South Front Street, Hudson; www.basilicahudson.com.
Join the family! 
